ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Shakti Samanta passes away at 83

    MUMBAI: Noted Hindi filmmaker Shakti Samanta passed away today at 6.30 pm, creating a void in the film industry. He was 83.

    Samanta was recovering from a stroke. His funeral would be held at Santacruz crematorium at 10.30 am tomorrow, a family member said.


    Samanta churned out several box-office hits like Howrah Bridge, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Aradhana and An Evening in Paris.


    In all, Samanta directed 43 feature films, including 37 Hindi and 6 Bengali films.


    Says yesteryear film actress Asha Parekh, “Today has turned out to be a very bad day for me. I cannot believe that this down-to-earth person is not amongst us anymore. A wonderful human being, Shaktida had a lot of music sense and was instrumental in dishing out memorable music in all his films. My hearty condolence to the entire Samanta family.”


    Samanta is credited for starting the trend of making double-version films in Hindi and Bengali with Amanush in 1974. He also made the first co-produced film between India and Bangladesh in 1984.


    Incidentally, Samanta was the former president of Indian Motion Pictures Association of India (IMPAA).

  • Quantum of Solace releases on DVD and Blu-ray in India

    MUMBAI: Excel Home Videos has released Quantum of Solace, the latest from the 007 franchise, on DVD and Blu-ray.

    The film releases in 4 SKUs. A two-disc limited edition DVD will be released for the bond fans and DVD enthusiasts. This includes ‘Bond on location‘, ‘start of shooting‘, ‘on location‘, ‘Olga Kurylenko and the boat chase‘, ‘director Marc Forster‘ and ‘music‘. This is priced at Rs 499.


    The second is a one-disc plug and play DVD helping DVD-challenged users play the DVD without help. Both the SKUs include features in three additional languages including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, available for Rs 399.


    The third SKU is also a plug and play DVD and is targeted towards the Hindi audience. It is priced at Rs 149. The fourth SKU is the Blu-Ray, which is available for Rs 1199 as an inaugural offer.


    In Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig returns as the latest incarnation of 007. The plot follows directly from Casino Royale.

  • Bengali film to get screened in New Jersey

    MUMBAI: Piyalir Password, written and directed by Raj Basu, is set to be screened in New Jersey on 11 April. This will be followed by screenings in Detroit, San Francisco, Houston, Boston and Chicago.

    Produced by Priya Entertainments, the movie is the first Bengali venture to be shot entirely in the United States and will be released in Kolkata only after its US and UK releases.


    The screenplay of Piyalir Password has been penned by Raj Basu and Saumitra Neogi and casts Rituparna Sengupta, Koushik Sen, Roopa Ganguly and Sabyasachi Chakrabarty in the lead roles.


    While Vivek Banerjee is the cinematographer, the music has been composed by Bikram Ghosh.


    Piyalir Password is about corporate conspiracy and medical ethics set in the biotechnology industry of the US

  • B4U forays into film distribution, plans production

    MUMBAI: B4U Television Network, which owns and operates a movie and a music channel, is venturing into the film production

    and distribution business at a time when the industry is on a cost-correction course.

    As a major chunk of the film producers have decided to withhold their new releases on multiplexes, B4U has decided to step in with its maiden distribution product. Ek Se Bure Do, a small budget film, will find way into the theatres tomorrow with Filmland Entertainments entering into a commercial arrangement with B4U.


    Says B4U Television Network India CFO Vijay Thakkar, “Yes, this is just the stepping stone.To embark on a big journey, one has to start with a few small steps.”


    Was the network taking the release of Ek Se Bure Do as a chance to get into the distribution sector? “To a certain extent yes, but most importantly we take this as a perfect juncture to diversify our activities,” says Thakkar.


    B4U plans to distribute 8-10 Hindi films a year, but the scale up will be done very cautiously. “We are in plans to expand this business and, for a start, are currently talking to a couple of filmmakers. If all goes well, we will release these films in June-July,” says Thakkar.


    B4U will also get into Hindi film production during the course of the year. “We have lined up 2-3 movies. We are looking at producing small-budget films. The plan is to add one more activity into the company. In any case, we have to source content for our movie channel,” says Thakkar.


    B4U, which has been low on acquiring movie telecast rights for India, purchased 300 films last year. “Some of the titles included new movies like Victoria No. 203 and Anamika.”


    B4U has been struggling with its two channels in India and has made no major investments to beef up content or distribution in the marketplace. The network‘s overseas operations, however, have been on course.

  • SBS Broadcasting inks deal with MGM

    MUMBAI: SBS Broadcasting has stitched an exclusive deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios wherein SBS Netherlands will premiere MGM‘s key movie titles.

    Under the agreement, SBS Broadcasting has also acquired the television rights to select MGM series including Spaceballs. As part of the agreement, in the forthcoming years, MGM‘s content will air on SBS‘ three TV channels – NET 5, SBS 6 and Veronica.


    Says MGM co-president – worldwide television Gary Marenzi,” With this new exclusive contract, both parties are ensured of further benefits – all three of the SBS channels will benefit from MGM‘s content and MGM‘s programming will reach the widest possible audience in the Netherlands.”


    “Since the launch of SBS in The Netherlands, we‘ve been broadcasting the James Bond movies and now we will be able to continue this tradition with the newest edition: Quantum of Solace,” adds SBS Broadcasting acquisitions – head Rozan Hamaker.


    The contract includes titles such as Quantum of Solace, Valkyrie, Rocky Balboa, Lions For Lambs, Pink Panther 2, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Usual Suspects, Four Weddings And A Funeral and The Silence Of The Lambs.

  • Hard negotiations between producers and plexes to start at fag end of IPL

    MUMBAI: Even as talks are on between the producers and multiplex owners over the revenue sharing issue, multiplex operators believe that the negotiation process between the two parties will start gaining momentum only during the fag-end of the IPL season.

    The bipartite dialogue is currently moving at a snail‘s pace because producers are in no hurry to release their films during the course of the popular Twenty20 tourney, is the common verdict floating across the multiplex fraternity.


    “Similar to last year, this year too a majority of producers had not planned any releases during the IPL season. They will start opening up their slate only after the IPL to catch upon better viewership. Therefore, logically the negotiations will get a drive up only when the IPL is reaching its season end,” says Inox vice-president (distribution and programming) Utpal Acharya.


    Producers and marketers take at least four to four-and-a-half weeks time to market and promote a movie amongst the targeted groups prior to its release date. Hence, Fun Republic chief operating officer, Vishal Kapur suggests that if the studios and producers are to release their films after IPL, mutual agreement has to be reached at least four weeks before the IPL ends.


    “We are currently talking to various producers as at this hour, it‘s us the multiplex owners who stand to lose. But, I believe that even if the strike continues, negotiations will have to firm up four weeks prior to the end of the IPL season as producers will need at least that much time to position their films after the tourney,” opines Kapur.


    Echoing the same notion, another multiplex owner from a leading media house, however, believes that the “talks are bound to reach a consensus approximately within eight to ten days, as producers will take 4.5 weeks to promote their films. And while the promotion is on, IPL will anyway come to an end.”

  • truTV creates enhanced film messaging for Universal Studios

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster truTV has unveiled two custom promotions with Hollywood studio Universal Pictures to expand awareness for Universal‘s theatrical releases of the political thriller State of Play and comedy adventure Land of the Lost.

    truTV positions itself as being television‘s destination for real-life stories told from a dramatic first-person perspective.


    The promotions are build upon an ongoing relationship between the film studio and the television network that have recently worked together to promote the DVD releases of Universal Pictures‘ Role Models and Focus Features‘ Burn After Reading. The first custom promotion kicks off this week.


    Turner Entertainment promotions and marketing senior VP, Katherine Johnson says, “Universal is a valued partner that continues to challenge us to think creatively and develop strategic marketing platforms for its high-profile releases,” Universal recognises that truTV is a growing network with a diverse programming lineup that continues to attract young movie-going audiences.”


    truTV will promote Universal‘s political thriller State of Play ithat has Oscar winner Russell Crowe leading the cast. This will be done through a custom promotion built around a mini-marathon for Dominick Dunne: Power, Privilege & Justice which airs on 12 April. truTV will feature a 90-second sneak-peek of the film, as well as branded tune-ins and in-show graphics that integrate a character‘s image from the film. Custom vignettes airing during the stunt will be created to feature State of Play cast commentary that highlights first-person accounts of the actors‘ roles in the film. For the thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated homicides, Crowe is joined by Oscar-winners Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren as well as Rachel McAdams. State of Play releases on 17 April.


    This summer, truTV will also drive awareness for Land of the Lost starring Will Ferrell, through custom promotions that will air across the two weeks that lead up to the film‘s release on 5 June. The promotional package will be wrapped around the Thursday primetime programming lineup on 28 May and 4 June. Each evening, truTV will feature a 90-second exclusive sneak peek of the film for viewers.


    The network will drive viewers to the sneak-peeks through custom integrated tune-ins each week and integrated in-show graphics leading up to and airing throughout the night. In the film, Ferrell stars as a has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into a space-time vortex and spat back through time. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world—a place of spectacular sights and super-scaled comedycalled The Land of the Lost.

  • SRK, Aamir unite for ‘equal rights for equal films’

    MUMBAI: Bollywood stars Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) called for an equal share of revenues with the multiplex owners, hoping to shape a new order in the way the distribution of box office revenue runs in the country.

    In a rare joint appearance, the duo urged for a system that would shelter “equal rights for equal films.” Signaling smaller producers to back the movement, the two leading actors said multiplexes should have a common revenue-sharing system for the creators and distributors of content.


    “It should be a partnership of equals. Everyone has a right to earn money and be viable in their business models. A 50 per cent share in revenues is a fair deal,” said Aamir Khan, while addressing the press here today.


    Echoing this sentiment, SRK said: “We need to repair the pipeline. We are calling for fair rights for Friday (the day the movies release in India) nights.”


    Emphasising the need for a settlement, SRK said: “This is a husband and wife relationship where there is no scope for divorce.”


    Aamir Khan suggested the setting up of a common committee that would look into the problems and work out the solutions. “This should be presented to both the sides. A solution should be good for the industry as a whole,” he said.


    Film producers who are backing the strike, have decided to choke the supply of their content to the multiplexes. Besides Hindi films, regional films would not be released in multiplexes. Said Eros International COO Jyoti Deshpande, “Though we released Mahesh Manjrekar‘s film Mee Shivaji Raje Bhosle Boltoy, on 3 April (a day before the strike) at the multiplexes, we are not releasing a Punjabi film with them.”


    Eros did not release Aa Dekhen Zara on the multiplexes. Said Deshpande, “Multiplex owners wanted us to enter into a very rigid agreement if we had to release our film with them. Since that was against the code of conduct of the Prouducer-Distributor combine, we desisted from releasing the film in multiplexes and released in single-screen theatres. Then we caught up with an idea and released Aa Dekhen Zara on DTH.”


    The producers are also determined to stop all old films from being re-released on multiplexes during the strike period. Said Mukesh Bhatt, “We will be supporting single screens with old releases. We are also working out plans on how to provide fresh films to single-screen theatres only.”


    Multiplex owners have been resisting a 50:50 revenue share and have indicated that they are comfortable with a performance-linked system. But UTV Software Communications chairman and managing director Ronnie Screwvala pulled down this theory. “A variable model leads to subjectivity. This is not possible and requires a change in strategy. Our aim during a film‘s release is to up our box office share and not to increase the occupancy level at theatres,” he said.

  • Lincoln Film Society to put ‘First Light’ on Satyajit Ray

    MUMBAI: New York-based Film Society of Lincoln Center will showcase a special series based on the works of Satyajit Ray from 15 to 30 April.

    The series, named as First Light: Satyajit Ray from the Apu Trilogy to the Calcutta Trilogy, will feature over 20 films including six in 35 mm prints (reprinted) from the Satyajit ray Film and Television Academy‘s film archive.


    The first part of the event will highlight Ray‘s career that began with Pather Panchali made in 1995. The film was acclaimed internationally and was honoured with a special prize at Cannes Film Festival. Other films relating to his career path such as Aparajito (The Unvanquished) filmed in 1956 and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) made in 1959 will also be showcased. The series will also include a film made in 1991 about the director titled Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker.


    The event will conclude with the showcasing of Ray‘s Calcutta Trilogy from the 1970s – The Adversary (1971), Company Limited (1971) and The Middleman (1975)). The 35 mm prints that will be screened include films like The Music Room, Parash Pathar, Devi, Teen Kanya, Rabindranath Tagore, The Expedition and Kanchenjungha.


    A conference based on the director‘s life, to be hosted by Columbia University, will see directors such as Mira Nair, Shyam Benegal, Samik Banerjee and Ray‘s son Sandip Ray participating.

  • Aa Dekhen Zara hits DTH within two weeks of release

    NEW DELHI: The ongoing producers‘ strike has led Eros International to opt for an earlier premiere of its latest release Aa Dekhen Zara on the direct-to-home operators’ Movie-on-Demand (MoD) platform.

    The movie was released on 27 March.Eros International, the producers of the Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu-starrer Aa Dekhen Zara, has tied up with DTH operators including Dish TV and Tata Sky to offer the movie on their respective channels for download.


    Says Eros International COO and commercial director Jyoti Deshpande, “We spent over Rs 35 million on Aa Dekhen Zara for promotions alone. However, falling prey to the ongoing strike between producers and multiplexes, the film did not get showcased in national multiplexes and was released only in single-screen theatres.”


    “With a belief that we must do our best to give the audience an opportunity to watch the film, we have tied up with DTH operators to showcase the film within two weeks of its theatrical release,” she adds.


    The movie will be available for downloading on pay-per-view basis.


    Avers Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor, “This is the first Indian film to hit DTH in two weeks of its theatrical release. The premiere of Aa Dekhen Zara on Dish TV will enable our five million subscribers to enjoy the latest and best of movies in the comfort of their homes.”